I'm fascinated with Mad Men and The Pitch is "real life" Mad Men. It follows 2 ad agencies vying to win the business of a company.
The first two companies were The Ad Store and SK+G.
PAUL CAPPELLI is the founder of The Ad Store and has won a ton of awards. The company is small, in NYC, and I loved Paul right away. He was bold, brash - tough on the outside but a softee on the inside. And he and his team was wildly creative.I thought his ad (featured on the bottom of this blog) really rocked. I got goosebumps when I watched as the idea unfolded. So simple, yet so powerful. In case you decide to watch the show, I won't tell you who one.
Just know that there was one guy working on SK+G who was a total douche bag. Ugh. Elitist and thought the world revolved around him - definition of douche bag.
Anyway - I've never reached out and wrote to a "celebrity" - if you will - but Paul really really moved me. Paul immigrated to the USA from Italy when he was young and he IS the American Dream. Worked his ass off and
and became extremely successful in life; but like so many people these days, his company is now struggling in this economy. Paul worried that he wouldn't leave a legacy - that his success would be forgot. I get that. And I think so many of us are like Paul.
We all want to make a difference (well, most of us anyway!). Paul seemed to think that when the time would come to walk away from the business, he would lose a part of himself. He felt responsible for the success of everyone in the office and didn't want to let anyone down.
This morning, the first thing I did was write Paul an email. I had no idea if it was even the correct email address - but I wanted him to know that A) I loved his "pitch." and B) He should be know that his success will live on - but he shouldn't worry too much what other people think (god - we all do - I know) because he knows in his heart he is wildly successful and his life is full of passion both personally and professionally.
I felt I had to let him know he had touched me. He inspired me.
And guess what? He wrote me back! Which was AWESOME.
Paul is a reminder that anything is possible - that hard work pays off - that when you do what you love, you win - and for me, this was also a lesson in taking a risk - sending an email to a guy I'd seen on TV - and risk that he'd think I was a freaking kook (which, we know I often am).
He will be appearing on another episode of The Pitch airing on May 20th. If you get a chance, tune in or DVR it.
Remember, live passionately - do what you love, take risks - work hard - and reach out and let someone else know that they have touched your life - no matter how simple or how great, we all need to know that we DO make a difference.
